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FWC on Sport Nation guideSiggy Carr confirms retirement two years after fall
Colin McNiff • July 15th, 2026 11:59 am
Almost two years to the day, Siggy Carr has revealed that a fall during the Hobart trials has ended her riding career.
Although she had hoped to get back into the saddle, Carr is now resigned to the fact that she will never race ride again and will not renew her jockey licence.
Carr has been one of the state’s most successful jockeys with almost 600 career winners, including the Hobart, Launceston and Devonport Cups and the Group 3 C.S Hayes Stakes at Flemington. She pioneered the move to South Australia for a successful riding stint, a move that many Tassie apprentices have since followed. During her time in South Australia, Carr was named dux of the apprentice academy, which earned her a riding trip to Singapore.
When she suffered the fall, off an unraced youngster who charged straight ahead rather than taking the home turn, Carr had no idea it would be the end of her riding career.
“I broke my collarbone, which at that stage we thought that was all it was going to be and it would be 12 weeks, and I’d be back in the saddle, but I ended up having a fracture to my neck as well, which required surgery.
“It was a long time recovering from those, (but) luckily enough it wasn’t as severe as it could have been. The fracture was pushing the disc into my spinal cord. I feel lucky that it was what it was and nothing more serious.
“Up until probably 12 months in, I was coming back right or wrong; I’d leave doctors' appointments in tears when they were telling me it was going to be a long wait, but I guess realistically I had to look on the safer side for myself.”
12 months after the fall, Carr had a trial ride at Longford, winning on a horse she trained, Lovin’ Bev.
“I felt good going to the barriers, felt a bit nervous when I got into the barriers, and I was on a lovely old mare which I absolutely trusted and knew she would jump to the front and keep me out of harm’s way, but I came back, and I was holding back tears afterwards because it didn’t feel the same to me.
“I was trying to tell myself that's good, we’ve got that behind us, it’s only going to get easier. I could have ridden in more trials that day, but I didn't want to go out there.
“I’ve always been such a confident rider, and then to lose that confidence, I couldn’t deal with it very well. I’d worry about what I would ride when I first started riding track work again, which I guess is normal after a fall, but for me, I was always so confident, and I had always told myself the day that I am scared is the day that I will give up, and I guess that’s when it really sunk in.
“It’s taken a lot of time; it’s been two years, but I think it’s only been the past three months that my decision has really settled in. My confidence is back in riding trackwork.
I think that's because I made the decision; I’m not forcing myself or my body, and I feel comfortable where I am now.
“I certainly won’t be getting on the types of horses I used to get on with no fear, but I’m happy to take on a bit of a challenge on my own horse now.”
Carr was destined to be a jockey. Born into a racing family, she began riding trackwork for her father, Royston, at age 14 and was quickly in demand with other trainers. Despite what is normally a proven path to becoming a jockey, Carr had no real ambition for the career. It wasn’t until she was 24 that she finally decided to become an apprentice. Her first winner came within a month of starting, and she became one of Tasmania’s most sought-after jockeys.
In 2018, Carr took out a dual licence allowing her to train and ride; she already has 138 winners and has a strong clientele.
“I think that is what has kept me sane, really, knowing that I wasn’t losing everything, and I guess that's why I made the sensible decision to just concentrate on training and being able to establish myself as a trainer. It’s definitely helped.
“I always wanted to train and to be like dad. I loved working alongside him.
“I’ve got so much support and have had the whole time; everyone was there to support whichever decision I made. I think a few family members and Troy (Baker, her partner) hoped I would make this decision and not go back out there.”
Carr rates her wins in the Hobart Cup on Geegees Blackflash and the Hayes Stakes on The Inevitable as some of her most memorable, but there’s another race win that holds a special place.
“The Magic Millions with Ms Tasmania was really special for so many reasons. I trained her and rode her; we picked her out as a yearling, broke her in, and that one was really sentimental.
“I’m really pleased with what I’ve done; I’ve won every cup in Tassie, five Group 3 winners across three states, ridden a Group 3 winner at Flemington, things I would never have dreamed of doing and I'm really proud of that.
“The Inevitable and Geegees Blackflash are definitely on a par in their different ways. The Inevitable, I had a real soft spot for him and Blackflash. I got to get on him at the back end of his career. The Geard’s were wonderful to me throughout my riding time, so it was pretty special for me to win some big races for them.”
Carr has two training establishments, a farm at Oatlands and boxes at Brighton. She has about 17 horses in work and wants to keep that number to 20 at the most. She is confident Tasmanian racing has a bright future.
“Everything is going well. The Tasbred bonus spread out across all maidens, I think, is a really good incentive. I hope everything keeps going for the yearling sales. It's been a bit of a downtime for the past couple of years, but let's hope it keeps building, and I’m hoping we can get another good horse shortly and be back in the limelight.”
